Below is a press release from the Mississippi Joint Legislative PEER Committee:
The PEER Committee recently released a new publication titled A Review of Parker’s Law Conviction.
Some of the Committee’s major findings include:
- In 2022, the Mississippi Legislature adopted Chapter 401, Laws of 2022, otherwise known as Parker’s Law.
Section 2 of this legislation provides that the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review shall create an annual report of the number of persons convicted under the provisions of this act; and shall provide the report to the House and Senate Judiciary B committees by January 5.
- Parker’s Law was adopted as a response to the growing problem of Fentanyl use and addiction. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, overdose deaths resulting from synthetic opioids such as Fentanyl have increased 97-fold from since 1999.
Rates of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone, which includes fentanyl and fentanyl analogs, increased by more than 56% from 2019 to 2020. More than 56,000 people died from overdoses involving synthetic opioids in 2020.
- PEER staff contacted the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to determine how many convictions have occurred under Parker’s Law since its adoption. To date, AOC has not recorded a conviction under Parker’s Law. AOC and PEER emphasize that the provisions have only been in effect since July 1, 2022.
Should you have questions about the report, please contact James F. (Ted) Booth, PEER Executive Director, at 601-359-1226.
You can read the full report HERE.
